North of the equator
In season in June
What is at its best this month, and the dishes built on it. Seasons shift with latitude and weather, so take this as a guide, not a rule.
Mango
The summer fruit of South Asia, eaten ripe, pulped into aamras and lassi, or set over sticky rice.
Goes into: Thingyan rice, Mango sticky rice, Khao khluk kapi, Poi
Jackfruit
Cooked green as a curry in Kerala, Bengal and Sri Lanka, and eaten ripe and sweet in summer.
Goes into: Jolpan, Cendol, Kolak, Sayur lodeh
Lychee
A short, prized season in south China, Bihar and northern Vietnam. Mostly eaten fresh.
Durian
The king of fruits in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, eaten fresh or with sticky rice.
Goes into: Tempoyak, Bánh da lợn
Mangosteen
Sold beside durian across Southeast Asia and eaten fresh, as its cooling partner.
Cherry
Eaten fresh, baked in clafoutis and pies, and cooked with rice in Iran. Sour cherries make soup in Hungary.
Goes into: Black Forest cake, Clafoutis, Risalamande
Apricot
Prized in Turkey, Central Asia and Ladakh, eaten fresh, dried, or made into jam and tarts.
Goes into: Qamar al-Din, Hamantash, Hoşaf
Peach and nectarine
High summer stone fruit for cobblers, pies, peach Melba, or eating over the sink.
Goes into: Chiles en nogada, Chajá
Watermelon
The fruit of hot weather everywhere, eaten in slices, as juice, or with white cheese in the Balkans.
Rhubarb
Sour pink stalks, the first crop of the northern spring, for crumbles, pies, fools and compote.
Goes into: Toso
Pineapple
Eaten fresh across the tropics, grilled in Brazil, and baked into the tarts of Malaysia and Singapore.
Goes into: Rooh Afza, Al pastor, Canh chua, Chicha morada
Papaya
Eaten ripe at breakfast across the tropics, and shredded green for the salads of Thailand and Laos.
Jamun
The purple monsoon plum of India, sold on the street with salt for a few weeks only.
Avocado
Native to Mexico, mashed into guacamole, sliced onto tortas, and blended into shakes in Indonesia.
Goes into: Guacamole, California roll, Pozole, Chilaquiles
Passion fruit
Sharp and scented, for juice in Brazil and Colombia and on top of pavlova in Australia.
Asparagus
The green spears of spring, steamed with butter or hollandaise, grilled, or stirred into risotto.
White asparagus
Grown under earth and adored in Germany and the Netherlands, where the season ends on 24 June.
Sorrel
A sour spring leaf for green borscht in Ukraine and Poland, and for sauce with salmon in France.
Peas
Sweet for a few weeks in early summer. In north India fresh peas are a winter crop, for matar paneer.
Goes into: Samosa, Olivier salad, Aloo tikki, Bariis iskukaris
Broad beans
Eaten raw with pecorino in Rome on May Day. Dried, they make ful medames and falafel in Egypt.
Goes into: Hilbet, Ta'ameya, Pachamanca, Minestrone
New potatoes
Small, thin-skinned and sweet. Boiled with dill for the Swedish midsummer table.
Tomato
At its best in high summer, for gazpacho, salads, and the sauces bottled for the year in Italy.
Goes into: Hamburger, Kebab, Borscht, Ratatouille
Courgette
A summer squash. Its flowers are stuffed and fried in Italy and folded into quesadillas in Mexico.
Goes into: Ratatouille, Minestrone, Jjajangmyeon, Stuffed squash
Okra
Thickens gumbo in Louisiana and soups in West Africa. Fried dry as bhindi in India, stewed in the Levant.
Goes into: Peanut stew, Kpekpele, Gumbo, Peanut soup
Bitter gourd
Bitter by nature and prized for it: stuffed in India, stir-fried with egg in Okinawa, with pork in China.
Goes into: Chanpurū, Yong tau foo, Pinakbet, Shukto
Plantain
Harvested all year in the tropics. Fried green as tostones, ripe as dodo and maduros, or boiled and pounded.
Goes into: Pastelón, Fufu, Bhaji, Bandeja paisa
Crab
Brown crab in a British summer, blue crab in Chesapeake Bay, and hairy crab in Shanghai in autumn.
Goes into: Jaffna crab curry, Arròs negre, Po' boy, Chilli crab
Crayfish
Boiled with dill for August parties in Sweden, and with spice in Louisiana in spring.
Goes into: Nkwobi, Jollof rice, Po' boy, Moin moin
Herring
The first young herring of June is a Dutch event. Pickled for every Nordic feast day.
Goes into: Smörgåsbord, Labskaus, Dressed herring, Pickled herring
Hilsa
The monsoon fish of Bengal, steamed in mustard or fried. Catching it is banned while it spawns.
Sardines
Fattest in summer. Grilled whole on the streets of Lisbon and Porto for the June saints.
Goes into: Pasta con le sarde, Sardine, Sarde in saor
Mackerel
An oily summer fish, grilled, smoked or soused. Cured with vinegar for sushi in Japan.
Pacific salmon
Wild salmon runs from Alaska to Hokkaido, long the first food of the peoples of the north-west coast.
Goes into: Smörgåsbord, Gravlax, Lox, Lomi-lomi salmon
Skipjack (katsuo)
The first katsuo of early summer is a Japanese treat, seared over straw. Dried, it becomes dashi.
Eel
Grilled and glazed over rice in Japan on the midsummer day of the ox, for strength in the heat.
Goes into: Smörgåsbord, Unadon
Photos from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; credits on the sources page.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Crayfish as food: Justin Watt, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sardine: Rl, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mango: W.A. Djatmiko ( Wie146 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jackfruit: This work was made by Tushar Hossain and released under the license(s), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lychee: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
- Durian: Kalai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mangosteen: VpuipV, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Strawberry: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cherry: Benjamint444 , edited by Fir0002, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Apricot: Fir0002, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Peach: Jack Dykinga, USDA, Public domain, source
- Watermelon: Fred Hsu ( Wikipedia:User:Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rhubarb: Dieter Weber ( User:Uellue ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pineapple: Markus Leupold-Löwenthal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Papaya: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, Public domain, source
- Jamun: কামরুল ইসলাম শাহীন, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Avocado: B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Passion Fruit: Бутио Такано, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sorrel: AnRo0002, CC0, source
- Peas: This work was made by Tushar Hossain and released under the license(s), CC BY 4.0, source
- Broad Beans: Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- New Potatoes: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tomato: User:Luigi Chiesa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Courgette: nociveglia, CC BY 2.0, source
- Okra: Earth100, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bitter Gourd: Morenga01, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Plantain: Daegis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Herring: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Crab: Trougnouf, CC BY 4.0, source
- Hilsa: Nahid Sultan This work was made by Nahid Sultan and released under the, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mackerel: Jastrow, Public domain, source
- Pacific Salmon: Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bonito: Karg se, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Eel: Italo Greco, CC BY 2.0, source